String theory

Kathy has set this week’s challenge over at Daring Cardmakers - we’re “all tied up” using string, twine, ribbon etc on our cards.

I went for perhaps a slightly left-field take on this one since I used string but it’s not there on the finished card, if you see what I mean! I’ve seen “string pull” art several times and finally got round to having a try.

You basically ink up some string, put it down on the page in a wiggly pattern, put another piece of paper on top, apply pressure and pull the string. Totally unpredictable but fun!

There are loads of video tutorials out there if you want to have a go and prefer to learn visually - this one is as good a start point as any, I reckon!

Stamps:
Birthday (Letter It by Ranger)

Paper:
Smooth white, black, gold linen texture

Ink:
Flame Orange Acrylic ink (Daler Rowney)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Crochet thread
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by!

Who/what do you love?

Our challenge theme at Daring Cardmakers this week is "love" - who or what do you love?

I love bird images! After florals, I think they come a close second in terms of what I have in my stamp collection.

I also love clean  and simple and one layer designs. CAS designs are often great when you need a romantic card that's not too feminine - anniversaries, Valentines or "I love you" for the man in your life perhaps. Can you guess what hubby's Valentine looked like?

Pan Pastels made this a quick card -  I blended three colours into a square masked off with low tack tape, stamped the image and sentiment after removing the tape and gently erased colour from the birds' breast and cheek areas.

A stamping platform is really helpful here as the first impression tends to "lift" the pastel, a second stamping will give you a cleaner image (give the stamp a wipe in between).

Stamps:
Tree Swallows and Key Expressions (both Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Paper: Bristol board
Ink: Graphite Black Brilliance by Tsukineko
Other:
Pan Pastels (Turquoise, Phthalo Green Tint, Magenta Tint)
Spectrafix Degas fixative
MISTI
Low tack tape
Putty eraser

Thanks for stopping by!

Tag - you're it!

I was lucky enough to win some stamps from Lost Coast before Christmas so I thought it only right to use one to play along with a new challenge!

The current challenge is "tags" - make a tag, use a tag on something else, use a stamped image of a tag... details here.

I went for an "office supplies" vibe with the pencil border stamp, a tag and some string. Black and white with just a tiny splash of colour keeps things simple.

The tag is stuck on with gel glue so it's raised just a little from the card base but is still plenty flat enough for regular postage.

Stamps:
Pencil tops Border (Lost Coast Designs)
Say It All (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Stitched tag die (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)
Copic markers
Black Fineliner
Corner Chomper
White crochet thread
Pinflair glue gel

There are always prizes on offer in the Lost Coast/Carmen's Veranda challenge and there are still a few days to play if you fancy doing something taggy!

February elements

It's the first Friday of the month so that can only mean an "elemental" challenge over at Daring Cardmakers - just use at least three elements from the inspiration picture to help kick start your project.

I won a grab bag from the lovely folk at Retro Rubber a while back which included a set with several cacti - since it hadn’t seen ink yet I thought this would be the perfect opportunity! As well as cacti, I chose red/green/pink, a bow and a handwritten style sentiment as my elements.

I’ve gone very clean and simple with a one layer card, just the tiny bow made with silver thread and a line drawn with a silver gel pen as embellishment. The flower is a line image so I stamped in light pink and coloured that with pencils, the rest are solid stamps so the inks did the heavy lifting.

Stamps:
Cactus (Momenta)
Say It All (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Momento Luxe by Tsukineko (Love Letter)
Distress Oxide by Ranger (Evergreen Bough)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Spanish Moss, Smokey Grey)
Distress by Ranger (Spun Sugar)

Other:
Silver thread
Silver gel pen
Charcoal pencil
Coloured pencils
MISTI (useful for solid stamp, especially new ones!)
Corner Chomper 

Here's our inspiration this month if you'd like to play along and didn't arrive via the DCM blog:

Thanks for stopping by!

New year, new chain!

It’s reveal day over at Card Chain Challenge. The first chain of 2020 saw my card winging its way to Shylaa in India.

From the options on offer I chose the colour palette and die cuts.

I finally caved in and added some pretty floral dies to my birthday wish list and was lucky enough to get these. I cut them from watercolour paper and used a combination of watercolour pencils and a Momento marker to add colour. A little bit of background stamping and my “trademark” rounded corner finish it off.

Stamps:
19th Century French Script and Say It All (both Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board 
Watercolour paper

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Walnut Stain)

Other:
Tim Holtz/Sizzix dies (Wildflower Stems #1)
Watercolour pencils (Emerald Green, Light Violet)
Momento marker (Lulu Lavender)
Silver gel pen
Corner Chomper 
Pinflair glue gel

There are still a few days left to sign up for February’s chain if you fancy it - make and send one card, get a lovely handmade card from somebody else!

Thanks for stopping by!

Oh, Christmas tree

Trees are taking centre stage over at Daring Cardmakers this week - Christmas trees, bare branched wintery trees, festive or not, just show us a tree or two.

It’s a double dose of trees from me! I used the technique of inking up and stamping onto an embossing folder before running it through the Big Shot to get the impression of fir trees behind the birch trunks. Adding a torn strip of paper inside the folder stops ink going onto to the lower portion of the cardstock and  gets you an easy horizon line. I then decided to step it up a notch and add colour to the embossed trunks with a teeny tiny paint brush and some inks - darker brown for the markings on the bark and a very light beige to add some shading down one side of each trunk.

I didn’t want to cover anything up really so I added a sentiment on a vellum strip so the scene is still visible behind it. The strip is stuck on with double sided tape sheet - covering the whole strip is a good solution to the age old problem of how to attach vellum without the adhesive showing! Gel pen lines give the strip a slightly more finished look.

Stamps:
Lovely as a Tree (Stampin Up!)
Sentiment from Noel (Waltzingmouse Stamps, now available from Gina K)

Paper:
Bristol board 
Vellum

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Pine Needles, Vintage Photo, Antique Linen)
Versamark by Tsukineko 

Other:
Detail gold embossing powder 
Woodland embossing folder (Stampin Up!)
Gold gel pen
Double sided tape sheet
Corner Chomper 

Here's this week's cover sheet if you'd like to share it

 

Thanks for stopping by!

December's elements

It’s the first Friday of the month and over at Daring Cardmakers that can only mean one thing - it’s an elemental challenge! Just use at least three elements from the inspiration picture to kickstart your card.

I chose reindeer, narrow stripes, tag, twine, typewriter style font (it even has the word joy in there), snowflakes and the colour scheme.

The narrow stripes are stamped through a circular aperture, I used a snippet of wrapping paper to cover the bottom of the card and the reindeer is die cut from packaging from a well known online retailer! I added just a bit of Vintage Photo ink round the edges of the die cut - I think it helps bring it to life a bit.

Stamps:
Fine lines backgrounder (CHF, no longer with us)
Sentiment from Merriest Christmas Wishes (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board
Packaging board envelope
Gift wrap paper

Ink:
Distress ink by Ranger (Fired Brick, Vintage Photo)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Tags dies (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
White crochet thread
Reindeer Family dies (Paper Rose)
Corner Chomper

Here's our inspiration picture this month, we'd love to have you along if you still have Christmas cards to make!

Thanks for stopping by!

Classic (retro) Christmas

The lovely folk at Retro Rubber invited me back as guest designer this week. The challenge is red, green and white on a Christmas card and, as ever, stamps that are at least a year old.

I revisited an old Crafty Secrets set that I’ve had since 2011. I stamped the light bulb in red and green Distress inks, hand drew the string to link them then used the same inks to colour them and add a very dilute wash of colour around each bulb for the “glow” of the lights. I used a silver gel pen to add metallic detail at the top of each bulb.  The pine  branches add an extra shade of green.

The sentiment is retro too - even though this set is now available from Gina K, mine is the original Waltzingmouse Stamps set from 2014.

Stamps:
Christmas Joy (Crafty Secrets, no longer with us)
Noel sentiment set (Waltzingmouse Stamps, now available from Gina K)

Paper:
Watercolour

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress inks by Ranger (Mowed Lawn, Barn Door, Pine Needles)

Other:
Fineline marker
Silver gel pen 
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by!

Link in the chain - November

It's reveal day for the final Card Chain Challenge of 2019. My card has gone across the Pond to Jeanne in Minnesota this time and I received a lovely card from Arlene.

From the options on offer I chose the colour scheme of silver, pine and ice blue and the theme of trees. The silver needs the right angle but it really is there, honest!

I used oldie but goodie Lovely As a Tree (a shock retirement from the Stampin' Up catalogue this year) and a sentiment from Hero Arts combined with some Distress inks used as watercolours and a silver gel pen for a simple, unembellished card that's easy to airmail.

Stamps:
Lovely As a Tree (Stampin' Up!)
Truly Appreciated (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Watercolour
Bristol board

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Pine Needles)
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Soft Granite)

Other:
A6 Stitched Rectangle dies (Paper Rose)
Silver gel pen

Big thank you to the Card Chain Challenge team for organising the challenges, it’s a lovely thing to take part in with the treat of receiving a hand made card each month. Maybe you’ll join us in 2020? Look out for January’s chain!

Thanks for stopping by!

Link in the chain - October

I missed reveal day over at the Card Chain Challenge yesterday. My card has travelled all the way to Dawn in New Zealand this month.

As ever, we had lots of options - I chose the theme of leaves, (sort of) the colour palette of tangerine, cherry and gold and the product option of die cuts.

I had a piece of inky mixed media paper in my stack of scraps that was good colours for autumn leaves and close to the suggested colour palette so I went with that - hopefully Dawn will forgive the northern hemisphere slant on this! The leaves are die cut from the paper, the circle is sponged with gold ink and overstamped in a slightly hit-and-miss style with a script stamp. There's a tiny bit of pale stencilling for some background interest and a scored line under the sentiment (the American spelling is another thing for Dawn to forgive!).

Stamps:
19th Century French Script and Essential Messages (both Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board
Bamboo mixed media by Hannemuhl (inked with long forgotten Distress ink colours)

Ink:
Delicata by Tsukineko (Golden Glitz)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Coffee Bean)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen)

Other:
Leaves dies by Impression Obsession
Cressida stencil by Memory Box
Home made circle stencil
Scor-it
Corner Chomper

There are still a couple of days to sign up for the November chain (which is the last one of 2019) if you fancy making and sending one card and getting one lovely handmade card from the next link in the chain.